Justice in Robes

Many in the legal theory/philosophy of law/jurisprudence field consider Ronald Dworkin to be somewhat akin to Darth Vader because of his persistent insistence (going on now for more than 40 years)that morality and moral ideas have an important role to play in defining law. This position, of course, goes flatly contrary to that of the legal positivists who argue generally (with the exception of the so-called "inclusive positivists") that law and morality should be kept strictly separate. This, Dworkin's most recent book on the topic, essentially is a collection of his previous articles, but for the most part skillfully integrated into a new whole, although there does tend at points to be some repetition. All of Dworkin's main themes are presented in his discussion: (1) law is not just a system of rules; (2) legal norms must be evaluated as to their moral merit; and (3) morality and moral worth are important dimensions of any definition of law. Always combative, Dworkin takes aim at numerous of his critics, including Judge Posner, Rorty, Fish, Sunstein, Raz, Liam Murphey, Scott Shapiro and Jules Coleman. Dworkin is one of those rare individuals that one can read with pleasure and profit, even if you disagree with most of his major premises, as I do. While sometimes his writing tends to be overwhelmingly turgid and minutely technical (especially when he gets into philosophical issues), one can just grit their teeth and forge ahead into more coherent areas. I found his chapters on "30 Years On" (addressing a number of his critics, particularly Jules Coleman), "Hart's Postscript," and "Darwin's New Bulldog" (going one-on-one with the pragmatism of Judge Posner) particularly effective and interesting. While there are many solid books available on Dworkin, probably the best by Steven Guest (not to mention an infinity of extensive law review articles), I think this book demonstrates that reading Dworkin on Dworkin is the best introduction to his thought and methodology. While not light bedtime reading, this book is bound to get the brain cells of anyone interested in this topic jumping and generating new synapses. He can be irritating at times when dealing with those critics who just don't see that he is right, but nobody approaches him in dealing in a stimulating fashion with these difficult issues.